Diablo 2
Diablo 2 has the dubious honour of being a game that people have supposedly killed (someone who sold a friend's character on the internet, while said friend was away) and died for (someone who died after apparently playing the game for an extended, uninterrupted length of time). Regardless of this it is regarded as one of the better action RPGs. The game has a rather large following on Mac and PC, some of whom have actually gone so far as to completely rewrite the game code to create modifications (or mods), and sustains a large number of players still playing the game online. The story is set in a world called Sanctuary, with an opportunity to visit the town of Tristram (the setting for the prequel) to rescue a character from said predecessor's setting (Deckard Cain). The game is divided into 4 different chapters, called Acts, with an additional bonus chapter. The Acts take place in the Rogue Encampment, Lut Gholein, Kurast Docks and the Pandemonium Fortress respectively, with the Cow Level as a bonus Act.. The player gets to choose from several classes at the start of the game, which serve no purpose other than gaining some different flavour dialogues, a specific set of skills and the use of some weaponry and armour in the game. These classes are: the paladin, the amazon, the sorceress, the barbarian and the necromancer. Later an expansion (Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction) added two new classes: the assassin and the druid; several new class-restricted items and a new act. The game follows the exploits of the chosen character as he battles hordes of demons and undead and ultimately the Prime Evils. The player basically follows in the footsteps of a mysterious stranger who lets loose the Prime Evils from their Soulstones or other similar containment vessels, basically cleaning up his mess. The overall gameplay is divided in simple commands, using the left and right mouse buttons to use set abilities and features a level-advancement that allows for an increase in a skill (1 per level, plus 2 for each of three playthroughs as a quest reward and another 1 for finding a skill book on each of the three playthroughs of the game). As an extra the game adds the ability to play online either against or in cooperation with other players, with increased enemy strength as more players join the hosted game. Maps for this type of gameplay are reset and randomised any time a player joins a new hosted game, in contrast to the only once generated maps of the single-player version of the game. It is both possible to make a multiplayer-only character and use a single-player character online. The replayability is increased using both the randomly generated maps and the possibility of finding items that belong to a set, with each found piece of the set boosting the other parts of the set. These however are rare and are different from some even more rare unique items that are similar to artifacts in other RPGs. Set and unique items have a font colour that is different from normal, socketed, ethereal and magic items (i.e. green and yellow). Category:Videogames Category:Diablo 2 Category:Fantasy